1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to memory cells and methods for manufacture thereof. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing memory cells while providing an oxidation resistant floating gate structure.
2. Discussion of Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view of a core cell in a NOR-type memory device. As shown in FIG. 1, channel 2 and source 4 and drain 6 regions are present in an active region of silicon substrate 8. Also present are a tunnel oxide layer 10, floating gate 12, oxide-nitride-oxide ("ONO") 14 dielectric, control gate 16, tungsten silicide layer 18, polysilicon cap 19, and silicon oxynitride (SiON) layer 20.
To program the NOR-type memory device, positive voltages are applied to drain 6 and floating gate 12 that force electrons to inject from the substrate near drain 6 to floating gate 12. To erase the NOR-type memory device, a negative voltage is applied to the floating gate 12 and positive voltage is applied to source 4 that forces electrons to tunnel to the source region. The more overlap that exists between source 4 and floating gate 12, the faster the erase step.
In order to manufacture a NOR-type memory device, a layer of amorphous silicon is deposited over an oxide coated silicon substrate and then heated (a so called "thermo-cycle") to form polysilicon. The polysilicon is next patterned to form an intermediate version of floating gate 12 of FIG. 1. The patterned polysilicon has some overlap with desired source region 60 and desired drain region 62, which correspond, prior to doping, to source 4 and drain 6 regions of FIG. 1, respectively. Subsequently, a triple layer consisting of oxide-nitride-oxide ("ONO") and second layer of polysilicon are provided. Formation of the ONO and a second layer of polysilicon involve heating the device to temperatures above 500 degrees Celsius. Later, the device is annealed at a temperature of approximately 900 degrees Celsius to complete the transformation of patterned polysilicon to floating gate 12. As a consequence of multiple thermo-cycles, the floating gate diminishes due to oxidation. FIG. 2 depicts, for example, that in a completed NOR-type memory core cell, the overlap between portions of oxidized floating gate 30 that contact the surface directly above source 4 and drain 6 regions (hereinafter "floating gate overlap") diminish. The edges of the oxidized floating gate 30 round at positions 32 due to oxidation. The electric field between the edge of the oxidized floating gate 30 and the source 4 region lowers as a result. Consequently, the duration of an erase operation in the NOR-type memory device (hereinafter "edge erase time") increases.
Floating gates vary in sizes among cells. One reason for the variation is that the level of floating gate diminution caused by oxidation varies among cells. In applications where NOR-type memory devices operate in parallel, edge erase times of the devices must be comparable. Therefore, techniques are necessary that minimize variations in edge erase times.